The decision to reduce the size of the two national monuments in Utah was an incredibly poor decision. It clearly highlights how little Trump cares about this nation and demonstrates his complete lack of integrity. The only way that Trump will win the next election is if the democrats are stupid enough to put someone like Hillary Clinton on the ticket. In other words, he could win, but considering his low approval rating, only very few people would consider him a positive choice. Just like in the last election, he might win votes by being what voters consider to be the least objectionable choice between two incompetent idiots.

Trump's policies aren't very popular and so I'd expect a lot of people who voted for him are not too happy with his performance. It's not realistic to assert that he has much chance of winning a second term, but then again the democrats keep making stupid mistakes and so anything is possible. The democrats cater to too many fringe groups and that makes it impossible for them to have any kind of coherent policy. They do stand up for conservation of public lands which is a good thing, but then they waste a lot of time on social justice issues and that turns a lot of people off. The republicans are insane in other ways and Trump is just out there in left field somewhere playing with himself. Most people are fed up with politics here in the USA and are sick and tired of the poor quality of candidates running for public office. I'm not optimistic about anything improving anytime soon! Sorry, but I'm a realist!

Bears Ears and Escalante should retain National Monument status. What Trump is attempting to do is to rob us of our national treasures. These lands were protected for a reason and Trump has lost a lot of support as a result of his reckless decisions.

recluse: There are a few things that Trump has done right and a long list of things he has done wrong. More or less the same can be said about all of his predecessors as far back as I can remember. The democrats have a far better record than the republicans when it comes to taking care of the environment and supporting national parks. There's no doubt about that, but the democrats have flawed policy in other areas. What we need are more political parties to form so the best ones can take over for the out-dated parties which we now have to select from.

Photographer captures beauty of spring poppies in Amador CountyThis is why I believe it is important to protect wilderness areas and to ensure that we have more protected wilderness than many feel is necessary. That said, road restrictions in most wilderness areas should be eased to ensure access by the public. What good is public land if the public can't visit it?

ergotYour comments were so true, simple an accurate that there is no way those in the swamp will understand. If we can git rid of extremist on both sides everyone else can work up a plan that works. Save earth, use earths resources without destruction seems like something normal people can figure out.

People Are Stacking Too Many StonesNot to make a mountain out of a mound of pebbles, but when tons of people are doing it, then it stands to reason that it can disrupt natural areas. Not that this is some kind of an environmental catastrophe, but some people are getting a little carried away.

It’s easy to see a frustrated stone stacker’s point of view: it’s a meditative and creative activity; the impacts of a single stone stack are probably negligible compared with, say, driving; and it’s a means of spending time outdoors that seems to run counter to the spirit of social media in its emphasis on concentration, slow movements, and communing with the natural world. The calamity of the stone stack, in our anxious times, seems admittedly minor. But it’s a prominent example of how social media can generate scale, transforming an activity that would be mostly harmless in isolation into something with planetary impact.